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Columbia council discusses Market House losses and possible shift to part‑time manager
Summary
Council members and residents debated cutting Market House hours and the manager’s full‑time salary after several years of operating losses; CHI contribution and fringe benefit details were discussed but no personnel action was taken.
Columbia Borough Council discussed options to reduce operating losses at the Market House on Aug. 12, including possibly changing the market manager position from full time to part time.
The discussion began after resident Sharon Linger asked whether the in‑place manager planned to leave and why council had discussed reducing the position’s hours. Councilperson Kaufman said staff prepared a business plan and market analysis showing the Market House has produced annual operating shortfalls of between $35,000 and $60,000 since reopening. Kaufman said reducing event hours would allow the borough to reduce the manager’s salary and move closer to breakeven.
Why it matters: the Market House operates both as a Saturday market and an event venue. Council members and residents said the dual use has strained staff capacity and increased costs. Council discussed tradeoffs between restoring the manager to a full‑time schedule to support events and trimming hours to reduce personnel expenses.
Council members noted a separate financial support commitment from CHI, which “took on the Market House and agreed to pay $60,000 for losses each year for the first five years,” according to council discussion. Kaufman said the current shortfall has decreased from the initial projection and is “down to about $20,000,” but that additional cost controls still were needed.
Council and residents also discussed how fringe benefits affect total compensation. A council member explained that even when an employee declines health insurance, the borough pays a stipend and other benefit costs remain. Kaufman described the current starting proposal discussed by staff: reduce the Market House manager position to a part‑time role of roughly 20 hours per week to align labor cost with event demand, with the implication that a full‑time appointment had been treated as a 60–70 hour‑per‑week assignment when operated as both market and event manager.
Council did not take a personnel vote at the meeting. Several residents urged council to preserve services, and at least one council member said the full‑time workload justified the higher pay in prior months. The discussion closed without a decision; council members said they would continue to evaluate the business plan and budget implications.
The Market House item also surfaced broader concerns about committee oversight and staff turnover; those topics were discussed later in the meeting.
